What Took You So Long?
by bhfirewife
Summary: After having not seen much of each other, two friends decide to spend a day together, and make a few discoveries about each other.
1. Chapter 1

He shook his head as he watched yet another male police officer offer her a flower and ask her to go on a date with him. A smirk crossed his lips as he remembered the only time that she had accepted flowers. They had been tulips, her favourite, and from her father. He watched her refuse the flower and turn the man down. Then he turned away, before she could look at him and catch him watching her.

She was very much a 'southern belle' but he saw the more modern twist. Flowers were not the way to this lady's heart. Thinking about it, he realised that must have been why John Hagen, and Jake Berkeley had held some appeal to her, even if each had been a short lived appeal. It might not have been with old fashioned ways that you won her attention, but that was how you kept it. It was how you treated her that helped you keep that appeal once you have won it.

He knew what he would soon do, but he was nervous about it. Fate seems to want to see him alone for life. Every woman that he had gotten seriously involved with, (with they exception of Julia) ended up dead. He had always been careful with getting involved romantically but when his love interests started getting killed, he became even more closely guarded with his heart. But somehow, he found, that she was already deeply imbedded there.

He had loved Marisol deeply, and still grieved over the short time that they had together. But _she_ had been there for him through it all. _She_ had helped him through the pain, his figurative shoulder to cry on, ever the friend. Eric had helped him dole out the revenge, but once that was over with, had been even more broken down, helping their parents to grieve as well.

When he realised how he felt for her, she had started seeing Jake, the bad-boy type that he thought that she had grown tired of after Hagen had shot himself in her lab. That thought upset him; he hated to think about how it that incident had turned her away from her beloved guns and where she had put so much effort into her speciality as a criminalist.

He had been amused to learn that she had kicked the tech, that he would admit, wasn't doing the job even a quarter as well as she had been. He had his Bullet Girl back and was happy that she was on her way to healing and resuming the normalcy that was her life, not that the life of a CSI could ever be called normal.

He looked back over to her and saw the surprise in her eyes when she saw him. He ducked his head for a moment and when he looked back up to her, he had a shy smile on his face. He watched her make her way across MDPDs parking lot. They had both been there with suspects for separate cases. He missed working on cases with her, but when she was one of his more senior criminalists, he couldn't rightly justify working with her, without making it seem like her didn't trust her to do her job, which he did, even more-so than some others that he have worked with.

As she moved closer to him, he touched the left side of his jacket and felt the paper that was in there and realising that is was Friday and that they both had the coming weekend off (he _might_ have had something to do with that), decided to do what he had planned on doing a couple of days before but didn't get the chance because the criminal low lives decided to make their presence known in Miami once again. He felt nervousness overwhelm him, but he had managed to fight it down just as she stopped beside him.

"Hello there, Handsome!" she said to him and gave him the radiant smile that was purely hers.

"Hello there, yourself!" he returned, giving her a shy grin, and removed his sunglasses to see her better.

He could feel her studying his face and knew that she would know something was up with him. He was proven right when she asked, "Something wrong?"

"No…nothing is…wrong. I was just….just wondering…..if you had plans for the weekend?"

"Nothing solid, I had thought about going to that gun show that is downtown, but I couldn't get tickets, it seems that there is a convention here to coincide with it and they sold out shortly after it was announced. So it looks like I'm going to have to sit this one out. And they were supposed to be showing some of the newest weapons avaible to the public, it would have given us a BIG heads-up about what there could be coming into the hands of the everyday criminal" He could hear the disappoint in her voice over not being able to go to the expo.

"How about….how about you and I….spend sometime together? We….haven't had much time to chat, and…catch up with each other, for a while." He looked at the ground for a second then back into her eyes. "Maybe even go out and grab a bite to eat?"

He could have sworn that he saw her eyes light up at his suggestion. "Sure!" she said flashing him a blinding smile.

"Okay…..I have to go inside and….finish…with this suspect and this case. I'll come by your place at about nine tomorrow morning, and we can decide then what to do?"

"Sounds good to me," she said.

"Tomorrow, then," he said, then he moved past her and put his shades back on his face, and made his way to the building.

* * *

The next morning found him standing outside her door at a couple minutes to nine, and more nervous than he could ever remember being when it came to spending time with her. He stood on her doorstep in blue jeans and a white button up shirt, his ever present shades in one hand, and knocked on her door.

When she opened the door moments later, she was wearing blue jeans and a black form fitting tank top that had a low enough scoop in the front to show him just a hint of her cleavage from where he stood about a foot away from her. He knew that if he were to stand closer to her that he would be able to see more, given their height difference.

"Good morning, Ma'am."

"Good morning Handsome," she said and then stepped aside in invitation to him to enter her home while she finished getting ready. "So, what are the plans for today?" she asked.

"I had thought….that maybe….you would like to join me in using these, today," he replied as he held up two passes to the gun expo that she had wanted to attend.

She looked at what he was holding in his hand and was stunned. "How did you get those? That had been sold out for months!"

"I have…I have my ways," he said, looking at the ground and smirked. He was glad for his numerous contacts in the city. He had called in a few minor favours to be able to get these passes for them, but he was glad to see that he had been able to surprise her with them.

Then she got a better look at what they really were. They weren't merely tickets to the expo, but they were passes that would grant them access to the booths that would allow them to actually handle the weapons, even if they could not fire them there.

She suddenly jumped at him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. That had surprised him for a few moments. He didn't move at first and just he was about to put his arms around her to return the embrace, she had pulled away and was turned away from him. She hadn't turned away from him so fast though that he had missed the blush that had crossed her face.

He looked at her for a moment then, he said, "Um…why?…wh…" He was trying to ask her what was wrong, with out actually using those words, they'd sound too obtuse, and that wasn't him.

"I'm sorry, Horatio. I know I shouldn't have done that."

"What?" he wasn't too sure exactly what she was referring to, hoping that she didn't mean about agreeing to spend the day with him.

"I shouldn't have hugged you. It's not proper, you are my boss."

"I am also your friend." Though I'd love to be more than that for you, he thought to himself. "And last time I looked, friends hugged each other in greeting and when happy."

She looked at him again and smiled brightly again. "You're right, Handsome."

"Shall we be off then?" he asked her.

"Yup, I just need to grab some shoes, and my handbag," she said as she went into her hallway closet for her sneakers. After slipping them on her feet, she grabbed her purse. "Okay, ready!"

They left her home and she locked her door then turned to follow him to his off duty vehicle and he opened the passenger door for her. She blushed a bit, and gave him a warm grin, "Thank you Handsome."

"You are welcome, Beautiful," he said as he shut the door and then moved around to the driver's side and entered the vehicle and then drove them to the gun show.

* * *

After they arrived at the gun show, Horatio, said a quick, "hand on," then moved around to her side and opened her door for her and offered her his hand to help her out of the car.

Blushing a little again, she took his offered hand and allowed him to help her out. "Why thank you good Sir."

Instead of releasing her hand, he placed it in the crook of his elbow after shutting the car door. Using the remote, he locked the doors, and set the alarm. He walked with her on his arm across the parking lot to the convention center that was holding the gun show.

Inside they visited all the booths and display. They got to see all of the guns that were there. They even got to visit the mini gun range that had been set up, and fire off a few of the guns that they had there. Their passes and the fact that they were cops allowed that, not that just anybody could get into that range, or even into the expo.

He had never thought of a rifle as sexy, but watching her handle one, he realized just how sexy one could be.


	2. Chapter 2

_He had caught her completely off guard when he showed her the passes he had when he had showed up at her place that morning. When she had hugged him, she hadn't been thing when she reacted, but in all honesty, she did not regret it._

_She was reminded of how very much the gentleman he was, as he had opened the car door for her, and had helped her out of it. Her feelings for him had rushed forward every time he did something sweet and thoughtful, and she would blush a little because of them._

_She was surprised when he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of her all day since they had arrived at the expo. It thrilled her a bit that he seemed so fascinated with her, and she had a hard time convincing herself that he was interested in her as anything more than a good friend. Sure they flirted, but she had never seen him interested in any kind of woman that was not dark haired and beautiful. __Well_, she thought, _unless you count Julia_. It saddened Calleigh that anybody could treat a man like Horatio the way that Julia did, he had tried to get along with her for Kyle's sake, but she just seemed to like using Kyle to hurt Horatio more.

Calleigh lifted a rifle to her shoulder and looked down the sights. She glanced over at the man beside her and saw that he was doing the same to a sniper rifle that was about three feet in length. She was reminded of the time that she and Horatio had been after the sniper killing people who used convince services during rush hour. She had to close her eyes and take a deep breath when she was flooded with images of him at the shooting range, on his stomach, looking down the length of the barrel of a rifle taking aim at a target at the other side of a grassy field. She wondered now, as she had then, if he had taken that position because of the comment that she had made on the roof earlier.

She shook herself mentally to the present, and realized that he was now watching her watching him.

They left the show shortly after that and went to get supper at a casual restaurant that they both knew and liked. He looked over to her as they walked from his car to the building, her hand in the crook of his elbow once again.

"Everything alright?" he asked, and she could hear the note of concern in his voice. She nodded in reply and he said, "You seemed to be lost in thought."

"Just thinking back to another time."

"Care to share?"

They placed their orders after they sat down at an empty booth.

"The sniper case." When he gave her a confused look, she added, "When we were processing the first rooftop."

He smirked remembering that time as well. He had not been fully surprised at her flirty reply to his six foot tall man, and three foot long rifle question, but it had been the way that she had said it, like she had a certain someone in mind when she said it. Now he couldn't help but to be jealous of whom she had pictured that about, thinking that they were a lucky man, whoever they were, to have her think of them that way.

They ate their food as each thought about that and other times that they had spent together, both on and off duty.

His mind then, unbidden, thought back to the time that she had been run off the road while transporting evidence, the time that Hank Kerner had escaped, and then to the most recent danger that she had been in, her kidnapping. Dan Cooper had been lucky that it had been Eric Delko that had confronted him about posting Calleigh's new phone number online. If it had been Horatio that had gotten to him, he would be as sorry, if not more so that the guy that had helped them find the online child predators only to become one himself. Cooper had just better feel lucky that they had found her alive, or he would have gotten a visit from Horatio.

Calleigh was watching Horatio closely, and saw the dark look that crossed his face. "Everything okay, Handsome?"

Horatio looked across the table at her and feeling the same relief that he had felt all those times when he had found out that she was safe and mostly unharmed. "Everything is fine," he said giving her a quick smile.

"Horatio, you know I know you well enough to know you're trying to hide something. Now, the truth, what is wrong?"

"Like you were at the gun show, I was just thinking back over times that we both have shared."

"Not happy ones from the look that was on you face," Calleigh stated.

"Well……well, they didn't start out happy, but they very much had a happy ending."

"Which times were they?" Calleigh asked. When she saw the look of 'don't go there', she added. "I want to know which times to not talk about o keep you from getting upset." Then she flashed him a smile that told him that she was half teasing him. But he knew that it was only half teasing, that she really wanted to know what was bothering him.

This wasn't the kind of place that he wanted to talk to her about these things. He knew that if he did tell her, he would have to tell her about his feelings for her too. He wanted to, but he was worried about what it would do to their friendship if she did feel the same way, so he had been keeping that part of himself locked away. Away from the world, away from her, away from himself. He found himself thinking about her more and more, wondering how she was doing, and hoping that she was safe, that no one was doing anything to hurt her. He had, on more than one occasion (even before the kidnapping) found himself dialling her cell phone number on his to check up on her, only to stop himself from pressing send and shutting his phone.

"How about a walk? This isn't the kind of place to talk about these thing." He hoped that she would let the topic drop, but he doubted she would, and he knew that if she pushed him into talking more, he would freely open his heart and lay it bare to her. He was tired of hiding his feelings.

She looked at him curious; "Okay…." she said as he signalled for their bills and waited for the waitress to bring them.

After both bills were left at the table, and before she could look at hers, he took both pieces of paper, "Let me get these," he said. She started to protest. "No, this…this is my treat today," he smiled his shy smile at her.

She about felt her insides melt at that smile. She saw it so rarely now that they didn't work together on the same cases anymore. "Okay, but I owe you!"

He got up and went off to pay. "Mmmmmm, we'll see," he said as he turned away from the table.

"Horatio!"

"Yes Ma'am?" he said, giving her the look that he would take no nonsense.

"Nothing, just hurry," she said. She wanted to find out what it was that had him upset.

He returned quickly. "Okay. Ready when you are."

"So, where too?"

"How about a quiet little park I know?"

"What?! No evening walk on the beach?" she said, teasing him.

He grinned to her and moved past her towards the door, slipping on his sunglass. So quietly that she thought she might have imagined it, he said, "Not on the first date." She was rooted to the spot for a moment, until she heard someone say her name.

It hadn't been Horatio; it came from the wrong side of the room. She turned to face the voice, there she saw Jake. _Not now!_ she thought, _this is __not__ what I need right now!_

"Hello Jake," she said, being polite. Then she went to move towards the door where Horatio was waiting, watching. She was stopped by Jake's hand on her arm. It wasn't a rough hold, and once she stopped, he released her.

"How about you and I get together later for a late dinner?" Jake asked, she could see he was hoping to reconcile with her.

"I'm sorry, Jake. I have plans, with a friend, for today. And I'm not sure how late we will be out."

"Alright, how about we get together later tomorrow, Calleigh?" he said, a plea in his voice.

"There won't be any later for us, Jake," Calleigh said. "I told you that we could never work out in the long run, because I love someone else. It would not be fair to either of us to continue."

Before he could say anything more, she turned and walked out the door that Horatio was now holding open for her from the inside allowing her to leave first.

As she passed by Horatio, she heard Jake call out, "What does he have that I don't?"

They heard from inside, after Horatio had crossed the threshold, from one of the other diners, "How about the girl?!" and laughter. People must have thought that they had been on a date.

Calleigh was stunned and felt her face go beet red. She couldn't bring herself to look at Horatio. She now wondered how much he had heard of her talk with Jake. They had not been that far away from him.

After paying for the food and making sure that Calleigh was ready to leave too, Horatio made his way to the door. He stopped to wait for her after he heard Jake call to her. His eyes narrowed for a moment when he saw Jake grab Calleigh's arm, but he relaxed once the other man released it.

When Horatio had heard her tell Jake that she still believed that they would not work, and that she loved someone else, he felt the bottom drop from his stomach.

He had lost his chance to tell her how he felt. He had lost his chance to be with her. He hoped that whoever this guys was, the he treated Calleigh right, for his own sake.

Horatio held the door open for Calleigh, and then passed through following her. When he heard the parting words of Jake and the other customer, he couldn't help but smirk. _If only that were true_, he thought, knowing that the other man had thought that the question was semi-about him.

Then he realized that Calleigh had stopped walking and had to step to one side to avoid running into her. She was looking at the ground, trying to hide her flushed face behind the hair that fell forward. "Calleigh?" he asked, a bit concerned, "Is everything alright, Sweetheart?"

He could read through the fake smile that she gave him as she told him that everything was fine. He wasn't going to push her into talking though, not yet anyway. First he would get her away from here, away from Jake.

"How about that walk?" he asked. She nodded her head, but he could see that she was still miles away. Lost in thought. He helped her into his car and then drove them to that quiet park that he told her about. It was a public place but it would still give them some privacy to talk about anything, including work, but he hoped that he wouldn't have to resort to that to get her talking to him. They had made it through the day without talking about work, except in reference to time periods, that events in their lives happened around.

He parked in one of the spots that ran along the edge of the park. Then moved along to the other side of the car to open the door for her.

She jumped a bit when he had opened her door, and he knew then that she had not even realized that they had stopped.

She looked up at him and said, "Sorry, Horatio, I guess I zoned out a bit."

He smirked. "Mmmhmmm, just a….bit," he replied teasing her. He chuckled a bit when she blushed.

She gave him a look through the flush. When she realized that he was just teasing her, she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Care to talk about it?" he asked her, as they began to move through along one of the paths that ran through the park.

"About what?"

"Jake, for one."

"Oh, you caught all that?"

"Mmmhmmm, it…it was kind of hard to…miss at that distance."

She blushed. Then said, "He just doesn't want to fully believe that someone could break up with him." She smirked as she thought back into their college days, He always seemed to be able to sense when a relationship had run its course and would leave before things got 'messy'."

"So…you did the leaving…this time?"

"Yeah. I realized a little while after we had started getting serious, that I could no love him like he is looking for."

"You….uh…you love some…someone else that…way?"

"Yes, and because I am not suddenly with anyone since we broke up, he thinks that maybe I was just getting cold feet and just used that as an excuse."

"So, the question…." he had to swallow the lump that was forming in his throat, "the question is 'why aren't you with that someone?'"

"That is complicated."

"Complicated? In what way?"

She thought for a moment, wondering how to answer the question, without telling him everything. "Well, first off, he and I have worked together for sometime."

He just looked at her waiting for her to continue, knowing that that was just a small issue if people really wanted to be together. It hadn't really stopped her before; the relationship he'd had with Jake was proof of that.

"Then, there's the fact that he doesn't know how I feel, and I don't know if he feels the same way."

"Why not tell him?"

"I don't want to chance loosing his friendship, if he doesn't feel the same way."

He nodded his head, he fully understood completely.

The walked for a few more minutes in silence, then she spoke again, "And of course, I'm not sure he'd be ready for a relationship at the moment, he has had a bit of bad luck in the past with close relationships with women." She got a confused look from him and then added, "They never seem to last."

Horatio racked his brain, running through the information that she gave him just now and what he had been observing over the last few weeks with his team. He dipped his head, thinking.

Ryan had seen a few bad relationships, but none of them seemed like they were really serious, that he could tell anyway. He's always seemed to closer to Natillia than Calleigh, anyway.

He stopped walking suddenly. "Eric?" That was who was closer to Calleigh. And any of the relationships that have gotten serious for him always seem to end.

She had only walked a couple steps past him after she realized that he'd stopped, she stopped and turned to look at him. "Excuse me?"

"It's Eric…isn't it?"

_Oh my God! I should have known that he would try to work it out._ He wasn't a damned good CSI for nothing. He had found a lot to ties for crimes from the slightest hints that the suspects unconsciously given. "No. 'He's' older."

"Hmmm…" _Older, bad relationship history…_ only one name came to him. "Frank?" _Well….I missed that one._

She about choked in shock. "Oh My God, NO!" she couldn't help but to answer. Then realizing what she did, she blushed.

Suddenly everything clicked for him, and his head shot up to look at her. Him, it had to be him! But how would he test the waters in case he was wrong?

He watched her for a few moments and saw her blush deepen. He felt hope serge though him.

"Calleigh?" he said quietly. When she didn't respond, he tried again, "Calleigh…Sweetheart, look at me…please." He decided that right about now that honesty, total honesty, would be the best way to go. He slipped his shades away from his eyes and off his face. She looked up at him and he looked into her eyes, and tried to portray his emotions there for her to see.


	3. Chapter 3

"There are two occasions that I can easily recall that you were directly in danger. I was worried for you, of course, because we are co-workers and friends." He saw her disappointment, and heartache, cross her face. "Calleigh…hear…hear me out, please." Once she nodded, he continued.

"The first time that instantly comes to mind was during the manhunt for Hank Kerner and Stewart Otis. Kerner was trying to erase those who had been responsible for his going away. He had been relentless, even killing a state attorney. But you caught him."

"The second time that readily comes to mind was when you had been forced off the road into the canal. When I found you sitting on the side of the road, staring out over the water, I was happy that I had not lost another friend that day."

He saw the tears that filled her eyes, and realized that he sounded like he was trying to let her down easy. He didn't want that. He raised one hand to her cheek and wiped at a tear that had started to run down her cheek.

He offered her a comforting smile, then continued with what he wanted to tell her.

"However, when I returned from Brazil, and learned that you had been kidnapped, and still not found, I was more than worried, I was scared…terrified." He paused and took a breath. He felt his eyes start to sting. "When we found you, I was so happy, I still had you in my life, I had not lost…you. I…I had not lost…lost my heart. My…," he dipped his head and spoke the rest in a near whisper, "My love."

"Horatio?" She couldn't believe what he had said. Did he really mean that he loved her too? Memories of her kidnapping flooded back into her mind, and more tears spilled down her face

He saw the look that crossed her face. He knew that she was confused because of the emotions that she was feeling right then. He hooked his sunglasses around his neck and reached the hand that wasn't on her face into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. He used it to softly wipe away the tears that were starting to flow freely down her face.

When she took a breath in then out and began to cry more, he pulled her into his embrace. He held her against him and let her cry into his chest. He let one hand stoke her blond hair, and his other wrapped around her waist holding her close and offered her soft calming words. He felt her arms hesitantly wrap around his middle as he hugged him while she cried.

He couldn't recall seeing her breakdown like this. Even after they had got her away from her kidnapper, she had been close to it that day, but she had managed to hold it together. He was worried about her.

"Calleigh? Sweetheart? What's wrong?" he asked her once she had calmed down and the tears had seemed to slow down a bit. "Please, Sweetheart…talk to me."

Her breath hitched when she inhaled. "I had been so scared that day! I didn't know if you guys would find me before he decided that I wasn't needed anymore!"

"I've always found you before."

"But I didn't know that you were back from Rio. You had been taken away as I left for the call that lead to me getting taken."

"I understand. I didn't find out about you being taken until I was on my way back. Eric had met me at the airport and filled me in on everything. I…I felt my stomach drop and my heart in my throat when he had said that they hadn't found you yet."

She pulled away from him far enough o raise her head, and looked into his eyes. "When he forced our way into that room, and I saw Ryan, Eric, and Frank sitting there and I didn't see you…it was like my fears had been confirmed, that you had gone to Rio and would never be coming back. I was ready then for him to kill me. I had thought that was going to happen to you when you left."

Horatio cupped her cheek, still holding her close with his other hand. "I had never wanted to tear someone apart more than I had when I saw him walking in behind you with a gun to your head."

"Not even when Marisol was killed?"

"No, I wanted to kill that bastard who had her killed. I didn't want this bastard to die right away. I wanted him to suffer for any pain that he had caused you."

Her heart had skipped a beat. She knew how deeply he cared for his late wife. To learn that it paled in comparison to what he felt for her, shocked and overwhelmed her.

"When I heard your voice from behind me, I was so happy and relieved. I was also ashamed that I had basically given up hope on you returning from Brazil."

"I had almost given up, myself. On the way down there though, I knew that I had to return. I had to return to you. When I found out that you had been taken, I had to find you and make sure that you were safe."

He lowered his head, tipping her face upwards, and gently touched his lips to hers. The kiss started off soft and gentle, then it quickly filled with a hungry passion.

When they broke apart for air, he placed his forehead against hers, and while still gasping for air, said, "I've…I've wanted to do that since…since you handed off that gun that he had on you." Then he smiled warmly at her.

She flashed him one of the brightest smiles he had seen from her in a long time. "What took you so long, Handsome?"

"I don't know, Beautiful, I don't know." He gave her another quick kiss and the lips, and he put his sunglasses on, "I love you Calleigh Duquesne!"

"I love you, too, Horatio Caine!" A blush crossed her cheeks and he didn't miss it.

"What is it?" he asked, as he took her hand, interlacing their fingers, and lead her back to his car.

"I wanted to say that you for the longest time."

"Well then, Beautiful," he smirked at her, "what took you so long?"


End file.
